Waukegan Port District Board Meeting

Monthly meeting of the Port District Board of Directors – WYC board of directors attempts to send at least one representative to this monthly meeting to report back on activities and to share updates. 

This governing body of Mayor (4) and Governor (3) appointed volunteers is joined by a Treasurer (non-voting) and an Attorney as well as the managers of the Harbor/Marina and the Airport in a public meeting to present reports and vote on items appearing on their agenda.

If you plan to attend a meeting, please visit the district site to review the RULES for public comment time within the monthly agenda. Outside of that period for Public Comment, visitors to the meeting are not permitted to comment unless acknowledged or requested to do so by a board member, who typically will first ask the other members of the board or the board chair for agreement to take extra time to ask that question. 

AGENDA – they may vote to postpone a vote for an item on the agenda, but they will not add new voting items to an agenda – because any item they will consider must be published in a manner to provide sufficient public notice (per IL State law). Agendas are typically posted on the Friday prior to their regular Wednesday meeting time.

PUBLIC COMMENT – the board is only required to allow 3 minutes per person speaking and they are not required to respond. With the current culture of this board, respectful commentary on current topics or reporting concerns often elicits immediate updates, meeting invitations, clarifying Q&A, or pointing to an agenda item where they take not to address your query. Three minutes is more than enough time. Use it wisely. Get straight to the point. Listen carefully afterward. If your concern is not within their jurisdiction, and there is time available, they will explain that. When is there NOT time? If they have had to move the meeting out into the hanger to handle a large crowd of public attendees (greater than about 12), then they must shift to listening for 3 minutes each. It has been a few years since they have taken such unwanted and controversial actions that organizations or residents have found it necessary to send an overwhelming number of people to fill the room.

MEETING MINUTES – the results of meetings are summarized in minutes also published on their website; however, minutes pending approval vote are not published until the agenda is published, so there are only a couple of business days to prepare.

OPEN MEETINGS vs CLOSED SESSION – meetings of this board will be OPEN to the public, but if they must address an issue that is regulated by employment law (protecting the rights of district employees) or if litigation is likely (if the district must file a lawsuit or is being sued) then their attorney reminds them and they vote to go into a Closed Session. They must reopen the session in order to vote to adjourn their meeting, and although they may declare to the public that they will not discuss anything further after their return from Closed Session, their meeting minutes (Example: October 2025) prove they have not held themselves accountable to hold to that declaration – it is best to understand that and leave at risk of not knowing a topic that was discussed. The problem with doing so is they do not publish the minutes to the meeting until the next agenda is due, so the risk is to only have 2 business day’s notice that your topic of interest was discussed at the prior meeting. Even if you meet with members of the board to address it, no legal conclusion can occur until the meeting after next and you may not understand the import or opinions of the board until the “Board Comments” portion at the end of the agenda.

OTHER MEETINGS – If more than TWO board members must meet on any topic with anyone, it must be in a public meeting with an agenda published with proper notice and minutes published. If they want to have a discussion as a group, they schedule and publish a COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE meeting. If they desire to vote on something that did not fit their normal cadence and it is urgent, they schedule and publish a SPECIAL MEETING.  Their committees consist of 2 board members so that they can meet with organizations and officials to prepare, report, and negotiate.